By SAM HATCHER
The Wilson Post

Local grocers have packed shelves with stand-and-graze snacks and television retailers are doing everything under the sun to get as many new screens in area homes as possible before Super Bowl XLVI kicks off Sunday.

For the record for those of you not so schooled on Roman numerals, XLVI is 46 in layman terms.

That's right, Sunday will mark the 46th anniversary of this extraordinary event which likely will boast the largest television audience ever. The prediction now stands that more than 100 million viewers will watch the game between the New York Giants and New England Patriots.

Set to kickoff at 5:20 p.m., the game is a rerun of sorts of the match-up in Super Bowl XLII.

However, this time around New England hopes to change the ending. In that game, played in 2008, New England was a 14-point favorite and lost 17 to 14.

This year New England is favored again but not by as many points. According to Las Vegas, New England should win the game by 3 points. New York, however, is counting on a repeated bad forecast coming out of Las Vegas and is pinning its hopes on another upset win.

An interesting side note to all of this "he said, she said" nonsense coming out of Las Vegas is that the winner of the Super Bowl has beaten the odds makers all but six times in the previous 45 games.

Fans here have their own ideas about the big game beyond Buffalo wings, onion dip, and chips and salsa.

County Mayor Randall Hutto would like to see the Giants win but he believes the Patriots are "well prepared" and likely the better team.

"I like the Manning family," he said, singling out New York quarterback Eli Manning, but "I think New England's going to win."

Lebanon Mayor Philip Craighead is picking the New York.

"I see the Giants winning 27-24," Craighead said. Asked about picking the underdog to win, he said he was a Vandy fan and was used to pulling for the underdog.

Watertown Mayor and County Attorney Mike Jennings said his heart is with the Giants, but he’s picking the Patriots to win the game.

Country music icon Charlie Daniels, Cumberland University President Harvill Eaton and Circuit Judge John Wootten also agree that the Giants are going to win.

Wootten sees the game going into a possible overtime with New York winning by 6.

Eaton sees the event as reminding him of the lyrics in an old Three Dog Night song in which he paraphrased "Eli's comin' and the Patriots better hide."

Daniels didn't elaborate but picked the Giants as an upset winner.

Country music singer/songwriter and Wilson County resident Tracy Lawrence said, “I think the Patriots will win 21 to 17. I think that they are fairly evenly matched, but Tom Brady will be the difference in the game. It’s going to be a great game.”

One resident expert, Wilson Post Sports Editor Tommy Bryan said succinctly "the Patriots" when asked who his choice was. Bryan said "too many people are trying to compare this game to the last match-up when the Giants won. But the truth of the matter is that both teams are different today than they were then and this year the Patriots are superior."

A second resident expert, Wilson Post columnist Joe Biddle sees it being a Giant win in what he described as a "close one."

"There's something about the Giants I like," Biddle said. He reasoned that New England has the best offense but said New York has "the best players top to bottom."

Biddle has covered some 25 Super Bowls and said it still amazes him that America can build up all the hype it does for this one game of the year.